Dedicated Power Line - Directions for Electrician?

I worked as an apprentice to near journeyman electrician way, way back and was very fortunate to be able to wire my own house under the license of a master a few years ago, running 4 seperate 20A audio/video circuits off their own sub-panel off of the main panel.

It is true that a dedicated line helps, but generally the issue goes back to the panel and what appliances may be on similar busbars/phases within the main panel that may backfeed noise into the system.

Everyones electrical system can be slightly to very different, and each state, county, municipality has their own electrical codes, so the following are strictly suggestions without me knowing your setup.

The best and probably easiest thing to do is to have your electrician run 2 individual 20A circuits where you use one circuit for your analog and the other for your digital components. This would also be a good opportunity to invest in two conditioning devices, one for each circuit.

On your own, open your panel and check to see what breakers control your kitchen circuits or motor-driven circuits. Pick out these circuits and make sure that the electrician installs the 20A breakers on opposite busbars where these circuits are. You may also request that he rearrange some of the breaker positions so that most of your circuits covering motor-driven appliances, pumps, etc... will be positioned on a similar phase. This is probably the easiest and cheapest way.

You could also go one step further and have the electrician install a subpanel (60A or so for future upgrade) and then run the individual 20A circuits off the sub. This would be a bit more costly, but also a consideration.

In addition, check to see if your panel has the capacity to do any of the suggestions I made as it may be filled to its rated capacity...

Food for thought and good luck...

Not knowing your exact situation makes this difficult, but here are some guidelines:

The two obvious ones:

1) Install a 20A circuit
2) Use a high-grade receptacle. Some like the "hospital grade" receptacles and others (myself included) spent a ridiculous amount of money on audiophile grade receptacles. The most important thing here is that it be "isolated ground."

If you are having more than 1 circuit installed then the following are useful:

1) Install all audio circuits on the same phase leg
2) Ground all audio circuits to the same lug on the ground bar
3) Wire all neutrals to the same lug on the neutral bus

#2 and #3 may not be possible depending on the type of panel you have and whether or not your electrician feels like bending the code.

Other things that can be useful:

1) Install audio circuits into the first stabs in the panel (closest to the power feed)
2) Have your electrician check your ground. If he can't find rods, or you live in an older home then have him drive 2 8ft ground rods at least 8ft apart. The best location is in a place where the rods will get wet (mine get watered by the sprinklers).
3) Have your electrician check and tighten the screws to all outlets/light switches in the house. (This one can make a big difference)
4) Have your electrician move as many noisy things (refrigerator, computers, light dimmers, etc) to the other phase leg (the one that doesn't have the audio on it).

As you can see this can quickly get out of hand.

If I were you I aside from having the circuit installed I would have the grounds done and have all of the outlets/switches checked and tightened.

My experience with this is that the electrician I used knew how to do things (he better!) but did not agree with me on wire gauge and kinds of outlets (hospital grade). So there's the fight. These guys know what they're doing, but they also "know better". good luck

Take a look at adding an Environmental Potentials Waveform Correction device to the panel that your dedicated line is on. It clears up any hash entering that panel from other appliances etc. I put one on as part of a home renovation project and am floored by the drop in background noise. Plus, it will protect your equipment from surges in the line, lightening strikes, etc. I don't use any power conditioning because I don't need it!

Here are some things other people have said that work:

1. Run your dedicated line off the first tap on the panel.
2. Use copper busses in your panel instead of aluminum. I ordered these special for my new Murray panel.
3. Make sure your electrical system is well grounded.
4. Use Porter Ports or some other better quality outlet.

I got some great help on this in a previous thread. Here is the link:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?htech&1165505364&openusid&zzDodgealum&4&5#Dodgealum

1. Run 10 gauge solid copper romex. 2. Get very anal about making sure you have a rock solid ground(s) back to the distribution panel. 3. Use 20 amp receptacles, 4 outlets vs 2 can be very handy. 4. Running a second circuit is optional, sometimes you are better off tieing all stereo equipment to a common receptacle. 5. Make positive sure that you do not run any other heavily loaded circuits in parallel with the cable(s) to your stereo. IMO, that's the way I wired my system and I like the results. I prefer to deal with digital equipment noise by use of a power conditioner downstream of the receptacle. FWIW.

Thanks to all of you for taking the time for such thoughtful responses.

It is very helpful. I checked out the website for the Environmental Potentials Waveform Correction device and it looks interesting.

Thanks again guys!